Employees are generally paid by issuance of a bank draft in response to a quantity of hours worked, or in response to a task that was successfully completed. This bank draft is conventionally known as a paycheck. Alternatively, an employee may be paid by direct deposit, in which the employer deposits the paycheck directly into an employee's bank account. The employees that receive pay by direct deposit are generally permanent employees within a specific company.
Some companies, known as employment contractors, provide other companies or individuals with temporary, or short term, employees. These employees may work for a short period, such as one day, one week, or until a specific task is completed. Following the completion of the work, the employment contractor may then assign the employee to a new job at a different jobsite.
The employment contractors generally do not arrange direct deposit payments for these short term employees. Rather, these employees are provided with a paycheck that may be issued on a frequent basis, such as a daily issuance of a paycheck. While paychecks are an effective and secure means of paying employees, many short term employees experience difficulty in cashing the paycheck. For example, the employee's bank may be located a significant distance from where the employee receives his or her paycheck. This may make it unfeasible for the employee to get to the bank during business hours.
In addition, some of the short term employees may not have check cashing privileges through a bank. Hence, these employees are obligated to cash their paychecks at an alternative check cashing service. Unfortunately, these services may also be located a significant distance from the employee, making it difficult for the employee to cash his or her paycheck. Furthermore, these services often charge a costly service fee for cashing a paycheck. This service fee places a significant financial burden on the employee.
An employee may desire cash for his or her paycheck as soon as possible following the work performed in order to cover expenses that the employee may incur after leaving the jobsite. These expenses may include fueling up an automobile, buying groceries, paying a childcare provider, and so forth. The additional requirement of cashing the paycheck at a bank or check-cashing service undesirably increases the time it takes to receive cash for a paycheck.